Joseph Brothers was born around 1855 in North Carolina. Brothers worked as a laborer and resided in South Mills (Camden County), North Carolina. Brothers was charged with larceny on July 26, 1875, and sentenced to two years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Brothers was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 1299. In the descriptive register, Brothers's race is noted as "colored." Brothers was twenty years old when he was arrested. Brothers was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Brothers was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged from the railroad on May 28, 1877.